


just a nightmare

by gooseberryfox



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: David Acting as Max's Parental Figure | Dadvid (Camp Camp), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, NOT m/a/x/v/i/d, tics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-20
Updated: 2021-01-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:40:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28866408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gooseberryfox/pseuds/gooseberryfox
Summary: He had tried to calm himself, and it was working to stop the tics, but it couldn’t help with the feeling of impending doom and unreasonable panic. Everything around him was so blurry and shaky, he couldn’t tell if he was shaking or crying.(a potential TW for tics, if vague descriptions trigger a tic attack for you, this may not be the right fic (:  )Also, please do not interact if you ship or support maxvid. This fic is not meant by any means to be a ship, and if you think it is, this fic is not for you.
Kudos: 30





	1. tear stains and woodchips

**Author's Note:**

> hey !! thanks for reading !! 
> 
> i'd love to hear your thoughts if you'd like to leave them ;) 
> 
> anyway pls enjoy bae <3

Max was unable to move, his body overcome with fatigue and stiffness, but he couldn’t stop shaking. It started with just his hands, but progressed so badly that tics had begun to take over his whole body. His neck kept snapping back and forth, his eyes closing and opening in a seemingly patternless eternity.  
He had tried to no avail to stop the wave that was inevitable, but he got too overwhelmed, too many emotions rose to the surface and the only way his body and his mind could handle that was forcefully moving.  
He had tried to calm himself, and it was working to stop the tics, but it couldn’t help with the feeling of impending doom and unreasonable panic. Everything around him was so blurry and shaky, he couldn’t tell if he was shaking or crying. 

He felt his muscles relax a bit, his body obviously having too little energy to continue to convulse. His eyes grew heavy and dry, so he closed them shut, both to rid himself of the excruciating dryness of his eyes and to escape into a false sleep-induced reality. 

It didn’t work out as well as he hoped. The panic hadn’t left his chest when he slipped into unconsciousness, and it translated into his safe space, his dreams. 

Being asleep made everything worse, but he couldn’t wake up. He was too exhausted. He wished that he could escape everything, just float in oblivion. 

After what felt like years trapped in his own mind, he shot up, a strange ringing in his ears. When he saw the concerned look Niel gave him, he knew that the reason his ears hurt must have been from a scream originating from him. 

“Max, I'm gonna go get David.” 

“Fuck no, Niel! Don’t you dare. I only had a… uh, nightmare I guess. I’m fine.” 

“Why are you crying then?” 

“What do you mean?” 

Max reached up towards his face and felt hot tears escaping his eyes and rolling down his cheeks, leaving trails where they had fallen in his state of panic. 

Niel got up and pulled on a sweater before exiting the tent. 

“Niel!” Max yelled. “Get back here!” 

The fact that another person would be entering their tent, specifically somebody who he did not want to see him vulnerable made him shoot right back into the same sense of panic he felt before he slipped into sleep. His body was too exhausted to tic, but that didn’t stop his breaths from becoming harder to take, his tears more noticeable, and the scratch of the blanket on his arms unbearable. 

He wanted to scream. Everything was too much and too little at the same time. He couldn’t pull the blanket back up to cover him from the icy midnight cold that crept into his tent through the opening Niel had left, but he was too cold to wipe away his own tears without flinching at his own touch. 

Only the sound of leaves crunching and woodchips being disturbed alerted him that somebody was coming. 

The wave of the tent flap and two pairs of shoes padding across the thin bottom of the tent told him that there were people in with him, but he was too deep in thought to recognize who. 

“-ax? Max, can you hear me?” He closed his eyes as he tried to place this voice to a person, or at least a face. He came up blank. 

Max continued to stare at the same spot on the opposite side of the tent. He had been hyperventilating for who knows how long, and everything in his body told him to sleep, as it had before. 

He couldn’t stop himself when he loled his head to the side and rolled off his cot.


	2. soft hands and warm cabins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> oof this one is really short but i did want to split it into two chapters :((  
> sorry about that :((

There was wind quickly rushing past his ears and running through his hair. He shivered, as the wind had not warmed up at all since he last realized how cold he felt. He didn’t know where he was, and it took awhile for him to register that he was not on the ground, but in fact being suspended by somebody in the air. His eyes shut again and everything went black. 

When he managed to escape the darkness that kept clawing him back a second time, he felt significantly warmer, and the itchiness of the blanket and the uncomfort of the tears had vanished. He felt a warm object touch his forehead, and without opening his eyes, he clutched onto it and slipped back into oblivion. 

This time, when he opened his eyes, he was fully aware of where he was.   
And he wished he had opened his eyes last time. 

He was under a blanket on one of the counselor’s beds, his body almost fully wrapped around David’s arm, and his head resting on his leg. 

He quickly let go and scrambled away from him. 

“Hey, you’re awake!” David said quietly, obviously trying not to scare him. “Don’t worry, you just had a rough night yesterday. You weren’t sick, which is a good thing.” 

Thinking back and remembering what happened reminded Max of all terrifying thoughts and images he had in his mind, and the tears from yesterday dripped down his face almost as though a faucet had been turned on. 

“Hey, you’re ok, Max. You’re safe.” 

Max closed his eyes, this time not to sleep, but to avoid looking as he slowly moved closer to David and reclaimed his spot next to him, grabbing hold of his arm once again. 

A soothing hand landed on his back, allowing him to breathe easier. 

“You’re ok, Max.” 

Max reached to wipe the tears off his face and allowed himself to enjoy the warmth of the cabin.   
He didn’t know how long he stayed like this, but David was right next to him the whole time.


End file.
